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Goodbye 2007~

Sorry I took a week off from blogging. I guess that 24 days in a row kinda burned me out for a minute. Well, as you can see by the lil montage above, "a good time was had by all!" My first husband (father of my children) and his wife joined us for several days as well. It only took 19 years to get there, but it proves you should never say 'never' because it very well can happen! My mom joined us for the first time since before Caleb was born. Thanks for making the drive, mom. I know it's a long one! With all the different mix of people one might think it could've been a potentially hazardous holiday but we all exclaimed at one point or another that we'd never had a better time. For that I am oh so grateful. We almost always had a Mexican Train dominos tournament going on (SO fun!). And of course, a new baby to pass around always brings joy. Lines were out the doors all over town buying up fresh dungeness crabs for Christmas Eve dinner, but luckily Travis had a connection so he bought ten (off the boat) and we all pigged out! And Oh. My. God. Have you tasted that Red Velvet cake from Costco? OH that's some serious trouble. I don't think we ever did cut a slice. Just kept slivering and slivering it right out of the box. Cream cheese frosting. YUM! Which brings me to my New Year's resolution. Don't hold your breath 'cause it ain't too original. Yep; weight loss. I told John this morning what I want for my 50th birthday. For us to go to Italy after I lose 35 pounds. I don't reckon we'll be going for my actual BD in March, but summer will be good! Def something to work for.

Much love and good wishes for the coming year. Thank you so  much for visting me routinely, and BIG thanks to those who leave comments. It really means a lot to me.  xo, jen

December 24

Merry Christmas Eve! I can not promise I will be back here tomorrow, so I'll wish you now a most joyous day..hopefully filled with loved ones and gifts you had hoped for. :-) Anyone would think that this chairful of sweet and gorgeous love would be enough to make anyone happy.

And it certainly does me. BUT. It's not an altogether bad thing when you get a bow on top, so here's my fun bow for Christmas 2007

COOL! Mom...Dad...did I EVER get a cool new bike for Christmas? I'm thinking not. SO. It just goes to show it's never too late! I love this bike. I'll admit I picked it out (including the special order color) so it wasn't a surprise but it sure is appreciated!! Thanks John! (kiss kiss!) Kadence is pretty happy with her pink princess helmet and seat too. :-) YAY! I just went googling it for a link to show you some of the cool things about it and came across this vid via the trek website (celebs love Limes too, was the link that got me here)

Well, I hope you enjoyed the virtual advent calendar here this month. I think it'll be easier to get an actual one MADE next year! :-) Enjoy the day.
much love to you and yours, jen

December 23

Beep Beep! Special Delivery! (would you ever get tired of looking at this sweet thing? I think not!)

I recently got ahold of some pristine classroom supplies from the 40's and 50's.

Among these things was an envelope full of Hektograph sheets (think "pre-mimeograph sheets")

And I think the graphics would be great for embroidery work

or even printed out for their intended purpose of work sheets for the little ones.

I scanned them all and uploaded them to a photobucket album here. Download and enjoy as you wish, and Merry Christmas Eve gift!

December 22

I've been trying to decide for over a week now if I should ask for permission or just start snapping.

I decided at the last minute today to just start snapping.

Nobody busted me out for it.   Too busy making those last minute sales.  This is our local pharmacy believe it or not.   I once mentioned to an online friend the $138 candlesticks I had seen in my pharmacy that day and she said, "We don't have pharmacies like that here in Oklahoma!" Nope. I've never seen one quite like it either, but I sure like going in there at Christmas!

Hope you're having a great weekend. The company has already started to arrive here. Be back tomorrow!

December 21

Hmmm. Think I oughta straighten those lights?

I'm glad I didn't promise when I started this virtual advent calendar that I'd be all chatty every day, 'cause I'd have been lyin'! Gotta run ~ See you tomorrow!

December 20

When John came up here 30+ years ago he went to work on a dairy ranch. When he left the ranch to go into real estate he took a milk crate full of old letters and cards that he'd found in a barn. I'm not sure why...he never really even went through them. He carted them around for 20 or so years til he met me, and BOY was I excited to go through them! Lots of Christmas cards and a few Easter, too,  all from the 30's through early 40's. Lots of corners nibbled by mice but lots were salvageable. The photo above is a few of them. I pull the whole stack out every year and put them out as if they were just received this year.

Miss Madison turned one month old yesterday. We plan on doing the same scrapbook layout as we did for Caleb. I'd read about it when Melissa was carrying him, and thought it was a really great idea. I suggest it to pregnant women when I remember to. So here's Madison sitting in 'the green chair' at one month old.

Still such a wee little thing! Not even 8 pounds yet.

Here's the layout we did of Caleb...seated in the same spot (same green chair!) every month til he turned one year.

OH I still remember taking most of those shots. Typically his mama would be at work and John would be getting him to smile while I took the picture. Lord, time flies. I miss that little guy! A first grandchild brings such joy that I still lack adequate words to describe. The ones that follow are pretty fabulous, too!

December 19 ~ and we have a winner!

Here's the same wreath taken with the flash on:

While I DO love the look of these ornament wreaths, now that I want them for my tree it just seems... kinda wasteful!

And now, what you've all been waiting for... the winner of the pile o' vintage fabric offered on the December 15 post......

Nicole Ellison of Raggedy Old Annie's. YAY! I have to say, I'm glad these fabrics are going to a good home, and some may even end up on those precious dolls Nicole makes! I see I missed a fabric give-away she recently hosted, too. Dangit! I need to go snoopin' around more often! Oh. In case you were wondering how we pick winners around here, it's really quite scientific. I ask whichever daughter comes over that day "Hey, pick a number between one and (in today's case) 31". Then I go counting through the posts (skipping over the duplicates and the one's who asked to not be entered) and Bob's-your-uncle, we have a winner!

See ya' tomorrow with more fun and merriment.

December 18

Sorry if it seems I didn't put much thought into tonight's installment of the virtual advent calendar. I had a sweet little girl here all afternoon, then got busy doctorin' a batch of white chocolate/candy cane bark. I'd put a tad too much peppermint oil in the mix so then I had to go buy two more one pound bags to melt down and add to it. Now it tastes great, but I've got three pounds of candy and not that many teachers and hairdressers to pass it out to!

Be back tomorrow with a better post. Promise!

December 17

The kids who've seen this say it's just evil. John says it's truly inspired and that it may be my best idea ever. As I was rummaging for the usual ho-hum to/from tags I thought it might be fun to keep things secret and number them instead. Now, as long as I don't forget where I put the master list it'll be all good on Christmas morning.

IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR NAME IN THE HAT FOR THE PILE O' VINTAGE FABRIC IN THE DECEMBER 15TH POST!

December 16

Made ya smile, huh? This is one of about a hundred shots we snapped last week. She was getting downright loopy by this point and it shows! Having recently scanned an old Christmas pic of my big sis and I, I noticed another pic taken that first Christmas in 1958 with my rocking chair that mom got us with Blue Chip stamps.

This is the same chair that Kadence is in above. I've probably lived in over 40 homes these past 49 years and I just keep dragging my rocking chair along with me. I won't be surprised at all to someday find myself taking pics of great-grandkids in it!

Tonight was Caleb's school holiday program.

That's him under the yellow arrow. Seems to be singing directly to us! Yes, they were all 'ringing their bells for Jesus' love'. I couldn't help but giggle when I thought back on last year's program...the big ordeal over those sheep costumes I made! Shoot...they may never get worn again!